States across the country saw changes in their prison admissions and populations due to supervision violations in 2020. But some states were already experiencing reductions in violation admissions and population prior to the pandemic. This snapshot shows available supervision violation data for California from 2018 through 2020.
Admissions
From 2018 to 2020, California saw a 68 percent decline in the number of prison admissions due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
Total Admissions
Violation Admissions
Technical Violation Admissions
2018
35375
12280
4450
2019
34508
12133
4461
2020
11574
3879
1276
Total
2018
2019
2020
Total admissions
35,375
34,508
11,574
Total Violation admissions
12,280
12,133
3,879
Probation admissions
7,920
7,656
2,357
Parole admissions
4,360
4,477
1,522
Total Technical Violation admissions
4,450
4,461
1,276
Probation admissions
4,425
4,421
1,263
Parole admissions
25
40
13
Total New Offense admissions
7,830
7,672
2,603
Probation admissions
3,495
3,235
1,094
Parole admissions
4,335
4,437
1,509
Population
From 2018 to 2020, California saw a 32 percent decline in the number of people in prison due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
Total Population
Violation Population
Technical Violation Population
2018
129075
31651
3472
2019
125195
30983
3436
2020
95318
21570
1124
Total
2018
2019
2020
Total population
129,075
125,195
95,318
Total Violation population
31,651
30,983
21,570
Probation population
10,308
10,255
5,570
Parole population
21,343
20,728
16,000
Total Technical Violation population
3,472
3,436
1,124
Probation population
3,407
3,355
1,053
Parole population
65
81
71
Total New Offense population
28,179
27,547
20,446
Probation population
6,901
6,900
4,517
Parole population
21,278
20,647
15,929
Additional State Notes
As a result of the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, people in California who violate the terms of parole supervision without a new felony conviction must serve any incarceration time ordered in a county jail rather than prison.
Whether an incarceration is the result of a new offense or technical violation is often difficult and problematic to delineate, even in states with available data. Most states do not consider a supervision violation to be the result of a new offense unless a new felony conviction is present, meaning technical violations may include misdemeanor convictions or new arrests. "Prison" includes county jail if the county was reimbursed by the state for a person’s incarceration, which occurs in some, but not all, states. Supervision violations may include revocations (i.e., unsuccessful terminations of a supervision and completion of a sentence in prison or jail) or short-term sanctions (i.e., probation or parole jurisdiction is maintained and the person is incarcerated for a short period of time in prison or jail). Not all states impose or include short-term sanctions in their count of supervision violations.
